Today my new puppy is 14 weeks old. The mom is a purebred German shepherd, while the dad is a purebred Australian shepherd. She will be a hefty dog and definitely taller than the mastiff mix I lost last year. I already have other dogs, but I wanted a large-sized one — something big enough to scare unwanted visitors such as people and mountain lions.

But in the meantime, she’s smaller than a mid-size canine, silly, and still cautious. She’s also going through the chewing stage, gnawing through anything she can get her mouth on, even old, board books I still need to get rid of, sticking out of the bottom of the kids’ bookshelf. Today. She somehow managed to grab some sandwich food items from our dining room table. She’s so quick! I’m hoping she doesn’t get the runs again like she did yesterday after stealing my daughter’s chicken burrito.

Growing pains, I guess. With puppies and kids, the cute, adorable stuff is always paired with constant emergency bits, upturned routines, and cleaning up gross crap.

Not with kittens, though. Those intelligent, adorable creatures know how to use the litter box once they get home. Even if they have to climb with a vengeance, up and over the box to do their business, they’re gonna do it! They’re also more amusing to watch when they play. And the best part of all. You can just leave them alone at home with enough food and water for days. DAYS!

Can’t do that with dogs and kids. I wonder if I can have a mountain lion as a pet…